Once out on the street, she looked carefully in every direction. She knew Gris. She knew the kind of man he was. She knew how easy it would be for him to grab her, pull her into his car, and take her away with him. But she couldn't let that get to her now. She hurried to the intersection by the diner and turned toward the police station. She walked hurriedly, her boots making footprints in the snow like an Arctic explorer. The streets were completely deserted.
When she reached the police station she didn't know if she should be relieved or scared. On the one hand, the police were supposed to protect her. On the other, she knew Gris had corrupted them. She could see into the sheriff's office, and beyond it, the county jail. It didn't look like anyone was on duty in the front office, but she knew there had to be someone working in there. There were lights on, a few cars parked out front.
And then she saw it. It was Gris's car.
What was Gris doing at the sheriff's office?
Her stomach turned. She knew something wasn't right. He had no business being there.
Could this be the reason Forrester had disappeared so suddenly?
As she stood there on the sidewalk, looking through the fence at the sheriff's office, a battle raged inside her. It was a battle between everything she was, everything she'd been in the past, and everything she wanted to be in the future.
On the one hand, she could hear Gris's voice telling her that no one would ever love her. That was the part of her that feared Forrester had up and left, abandoning her to her fate. She knew that was a real possibility. What if Gris or the sheriff had simply told Forrester about her past? About the life she'd led as a child? Surely that would be enough to get a guy to think twice about her, no matter what he'd thought he felt for her before. As if to drive home her fear, Gris's black car sat there in the parking lot, the back still dented and damaged from when she'd rammed into it.
On the other hand, she could picture Forrester's face telling her he loved her, telling her to never forget that, telling her that he wanted her to have his baby. How could that not be real? How could she allow herself to believe the other voice in her head over that one? No. She would get to the bottom of this.
She took a deep breath as she entered the parking lot of the police station. Quietly, she made her way from car to car, all the way to the entrance. She peered in through the glass doors. Everything inside was lit up, the door was unlocked, but no one was sitting at the reception desk. As quietly as she could, she slipped inside. She was inside a waiting room. She walked around the desk into the administrative area, and through that into the sheriff's office. There was a door from the sheriff's office leading to the jail but she didn't go near it. All her attention was on the coat that was hanging on the hook by the door. It was Gris's coat. She'd recognize it anywhere.
He sure had made himself at home with the Stone Peak police department.
Then she saw something else. It was on the desk. A key. And on it, on the fob, was a little metal pit bull. It was Forrester's truck key.
They had his key.
Did that mean they had him too?
If they had him, where would he be? Where would they keep him?
She realized it all at once.
The jail.
Chapter 35
Elle
ELLE LOOKED AT THE DOOR. It was orange with an electronic lock. At eye-level there was a small window of reinforced glass. Hesitantly, she walked up to the window, then peered through it. What she saw took her breath away.
Beyond the door was a corridor, and at the end of it was a jail cell. Standing outside the cell was Gris, and behind the bars, lying on the ground in a pool of blood, was Forrester. She gasped and had to stop herself from making a sound. What had they done to him? What had they done to her Forrester? She'd kill them. She'd kill all of them.
They were talking, and she held her breath so that she could hear what they were saying but it was no good. She couldn't hear a word. She saw that there was a speaker by the door and hit the green light on it. Then she could hear them.
"Well, it will all be in vain," Gris said. His voice made her want to scream. "She might have waited for you this long," Gris continued. "To be honest, I'm surprised. I thought she'd have come running back to me by now."
"She's not the girl you think she is, Gris."
Her heart pounded in her chest at the sound of Forrester's voice. She'd thought she'd never hear him again.
"Maybe not," Gris said. Gris had been holding a video camera in his hands and he put it away. "But she will be. I know her. I know how to work her. I'll grind her down, break down her confidence and self-esteem, until she believes she's the worthless piece of shit I know she is."
"Why? Why would you do that?"
"What do you care, fucko? You'll be rid of her. Her and me, we'll be gone. You'll never have to think about her again."
"I won't forget her."
"Well, let me give you a little bit of incentive to move on with your life. I want to make sure you forget all about her."
"I'll never forget about her."
"She was a whore, Forrester. Before you knew her, before even I knew her. She was a whore. She was the property of Los Lobos. They owned her, and they did whatever they wanted with her."
Elle couldn't breathe. She couldn't believe what she was witnessing. There was Gris, the man she'd trusted with everything, and he was telling her deepest, darkest secrets to the man she was in love with. This would change everything. Forrester would never look at her the same way again. He'd lose whatever love he'd had for her.
She watched, mouth open, as Forrester said nothing. Gris only nodded.
"What's the problem, fucko? You got nothing to say? Cat got your tongue?" Gris taunted.
"Fuck you, Gris."
"Oh, you seem upset. Was it something I said?"
Forrester moved on the ground but he was too injured to get to his feet.
"Fuck it," he said. "Fuck it all. Have a good life, Gris. I hope I never see you again."
And that was the moment Elle's heart broke. That was it. As simple as that. Forrester had stopped loving her. He didn't want her. He was done with her. She supposed she couldn't blame him. What man in his right mind would want a girl with her past?
Forrester lay there on the ground and shut his eyes.
Elle couldn't see. Her eyes were too full of tears. She couldn't think straight. She couldn't move. Her heart felt as if it had just been squished by a boot. Her stomach was in knots. She wanted to run out into the corridor and tell Forrester not to stop loving her. She wanted to beg him to give her a chance. She was more than her past. She was so much more than that. She wasn't what he thought.
The quote, from the French author, it kept running through her mind.
*
It is better to be hated for what you are than loved for what you are not.
*
And then the door opened. The force of it knocked her back off her feet. She fell to the ground and when she looked up, there was Gris, standing above her, his jaw set in a cruel snarl. It was exactly the look he always had before he laid into her. She rose her arms in front of her face to protect herself from the barrage of abuse she knew was coming, but it didn't come. Gris just laughed. He made sure to shut and lock the door carefully behind him. He saw that the microphone was turned on and that just made him even more amused.
"So," he said, "you just heard all that?"
Elle nodded.
"You see, Elle. I tried to warn you. I knew once your lover boy heard the truth, he wouldn't feel the same way about you anymore. You saw it with your own eyes. When I told him what you really were, it just took all the wind out of his sails. It took the love out of his heart. He feels nothing for you now."
"That's not true," Elle said, but even as she said it she could hear the doubt, the fear, in her own voice. She was already beginning to doubt herself. She was beginning to doubt Forrester's love. She'd held fast through so much. She'd refused to give up on him. But now she could feel all her certainty, all her confidence, evaporate.
How could Forrester ever love her? She was worthless. She'd been sold as a slave by her own mother. She was nothing more than a whore, and the daughter of a whore.
"And besides," Gris went on. "You saw him. I've beaten the shit out of him. If you don't let him go, he'll be dead soon. I've got the whole police of this town on my side. If you don't come home with me, I'll tell them never to let him out."
"You can't do that," Elle gasped.